We first met among the cheering crowds of our high school's football team. They were playing our rival team and we caught a glance of each other amongst the roaring commotion. A mutual friend introduced us and we spent the rest of the game talking to each other. We both left that evening with an innate feeling that we had met someone very special. That evening, we stayed up late talking to each other and fell asleep with huge smiles on our faces. That was the first day that marked the beginning of the rest of our lives together!

"WOW" is really all I can say! From every intricate detail and every thought, I was beyond blown away with Kyle's proposal. I am sure many of you have heard this story, but I will always be excited for another opportunity to share the moment my man asked me to be his forever. First of all, he planned a private ballroom dance class for the two of us. We had been thinking of doing this for a while after some friends had said how fun it was, so I wasn't completely thrown off when Kyle first said he had booked us a class. For any of you who haven't done a ball room dance class, it is such a fun date idea! We walked into a huge, beautiful ballroom with just us and our instructor and had such a blast learning several different dances. Afterwards, as we were driving home, Kyle missed our exit. Now, I know, not super unusual that Kyle misses a turn, but when he said it was on purpose I knew something was happening! We pulled into the Bacara resort parking lot near the head of a beach path that we frequently visited. As we turned the corner down the path I could see wooden signs with a special date painted on them with big red balloons tied to each. As we came up to the first sign Kyle instructed me to read the hand written letter on it which had a beautiful message about the date on the sign. As we continued to walk down the path, there were 2 more signs, each with another hand written letter. At this point, I am so beyond excited and overwhelmed and emotional that I could barely even read the letters. We rounded the last corner of the path and sitting on the lawn overlooking the ocean is a huge bouquet of flowers and one last sign with balloons. Here, Kyle got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him! ABSOLUTELY YES, A MILLION TIMES YES! The moment was magical and beyond what I could have ever dreamed of! To top it all off, he had his friends hide in the bushes to capture the moment. This was by far one of the best days of my life! -Mikaela

After graduating high school, Kyle attended UC Santa Barbara where he completed a bachelor's of science in biochemistry and Mikaela attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo where she received her bachelor's in science in biology. 1.5 hours apart, we frequently made the journey down 101 to visit each other. Some of our favorite moments were spent hiking in the San Luis Obispo mountains, biking along the cliffs in Santa Barbara or exploring places in-between. After college, we got to spend a year together living in Santa Barbara. Kyle worked in a busy emergency department and Mikaela worked for a family medicine practice. Every weekend was an opportunity for us to spend time doing the things we loved together! A year later, our hard work paid off as we were both accepted into graduate physician assistant programs. Mikaela flew off to Boston, and shortly after, Kyle started his program 2 hours north in Portland, Maine. Weekends were now spent buried in books, reading scientific studies, and quizzing each other on the fundamentals of medicine. Although, we did find some time to explore some of the east coast treasures. Fast forward to now and we are beyond excited to be starting our lives together as husband and wife. We are incredibly proud of each other and what we have accomplished individually and together over the past 10 years! We don't know what the future will hold for us, but no matter where we are located, we will always be together forever!